Burakkuu Rae, Black Spirit
by RaeTheISTJ
Summary: How much could one extra person in Naruto's life change the entire plot of a story? Mostly fluff/friendship, later some straight couples and eventual femslash


**Chapter One**

The first time Rae met Uzamaki Naruto, he had been trying to argue with the librarian to let him into the library and try to complete an essay he had been assigned. Rae had seen the way the librarian sneered, she scowled and approached with an incredibly fake smile as she laid a hand on the boy's shoulder and said; "He's with me."

The librarian had stopped arguing as soon as she saw Rae's ninja headband, but continued to send them both the stink eye as they ventured into the shelves of scrolls and books without further interruption.

"You ok kid?" She had asked him, her eyes narrowed behind her purple framed glasses.

"I'm fine," the blond replied with a bit of a sulk. "Everyone's like that all the time."

"Well, doing those pranks of yours that you're so well known for doesn't help," Rae pointed out whilst she sweat dropped. "Anyway, if they bother you again, just say that Burakku Rae is your friend and they should back off."

Naruto's eyes had started to shine with hope then, the ten year old boy dared to hope again after being dismissed for so long. "I'm your friend?"

Rae's eyebrows rose slightly, as if surprised that was what Naruto had picked up on the most. "Sure, why not?" She shrugged. "What is it you're working on anyway?"

It was the start of a very strange friendship.

* * *

The second time Rae met Naruto, it had been when she dropped by the academy, which should be closing for the day. She had been asked by her sensei to pass on the last of some papers for her and her team's d-rank mission.

She had just dropped off some papers for Umino Iruka when she heard the sound of something sharp hitting wood, curious, Rae followed the sound until she found Naruto throwing some shuriken at a training log. She sat down and waited for Naruto to finish and when she noticed he wasn't going to anytime soon, she left as silently as she came and went to the mission desk to file in her report of her mission before coming back.

Naruto was still there when she got back, but he was collecting the shurikens he had thrown, his fingertips were bleeding from where he sliced them on the sharp metal. The blond boy had his brows furrowed and Rae could easily see the way the corners of his eyes were moist.

The brunette Genin sighed quietly, she could hardly leave the boy here to struggle when he clearly needed help and she HAD promised him that she was his friend. "Need some help, squirt?"

The way Naruto's eyes lit up at the sight of her made Rae's chest lighten and for that little tickle of irritation to disappear. Really, what harm could helping out a little academy student do?

* * *

According to Naruto, no-one believed that she was real in the academy, which amused her greatly since she had only been in the academy a few months ago herself. As time went on, she started to enjoy the time she took to train and play with Naruto, it was better than being at home and having to stay with a team that looked down on her for her abysmal skills in ninjustu and taijutsu.

"None of them believe me Rae-chan, why won't they believe me?" Naruto asked with an adorable little pout.

Rae grinned as she cooed over how adorable he was and hugged him, which made Naruto blush and pout more whilst protesting over being 'cute', despite how much he enjoyed the attention. "There's something you need to know about people Naruto-kun," Rae said once she had finished her little squealing session. "Unless people can see it right in front of them, they won't believe it."

"But why?" Naruto whined and he smiled bashfully, a little embarrassed, as Rae combed her fingers through his sunny blond locks of hair.

"Because they're stupid." Rae said with a mischievous quirk to her pale pink lips.

Naruto laughed.

* * *

No-one had believed Naruto when he talked of the eccentric Genin girl called 'Rae-chan' when he spoke of her, how she helped him learn how to throw shuriken, how to identify good knock-out poisons, natural herbs for laxatives and all other sort of strange but useful skills and information. Why would they? No-one associated with Uzamaki Naruto unless they could help it.

So it came as a shock to the academy teachers and students when a young girl, around twelve or thirteen years old approached Naruto with a pleased, if slightly smug smile on her voice, as she called out; "Hey squirt, ready for those chakra exercises I told you about?"

The boy with the sunny blond hair had sped off like a rocket towards her, and he focused completely on her as they walked away from the academy as he told her about his day, they left a stunned audience behind.

Iruka was pleased, as a teacher there was very little he could do to help Naruto outside the academy but with Burrakuu Rae he had someone to look up to, a friend and maybe even a sister-like figure. It was much more than he could have ever hoped for.

* * *

Rae never understood why so many people hated Uzamaki Naruto, sure he could be annoying on occasion and his pranks were a little over the top at times, but those were hardly reasons to hate someone, unless you happened to be a little unhinged.

She tried to ignore it like Naruto did when they glared and would tease him a little or distract him with the promise of training or a visit to Ichiraku Ramen. It worked for the most part, but there were times that it didn't and it often left Rae sleepless with anxiety and worry.

She was also surprised that within the course of two months, she had grown so attached to the little blond boy. He was like a ball of sunshine, someone to care about that cared back for who she was not on how useful she could be to him and that was both a pleasant and foreign concept, one that she liked.

She scowled, she would uncover the mystery.

* * *

The Sandaime was more than a little content right now, or as content as a person could be when going through mountains of paperwork, the had seen through his crystal ball that Naruto had made a little friend, a young Genin girl. He had ANBU observe the two and see if there were any dangers towards Naruto or if the girl was up to any... Funny business.

She had been sincere in her care so far, although a little curious about why so many hated him, the ANBU had overheard her asking around for any answers or clues. She had notes left in her room (placed under a fake bottom in her draw, safe from her civilian parents but not from a nosey ANBU) which they had gone through and she had many interesting theories such as something as simple as his birthday being the reason (born on the same day at the attack of the Kyuubi, it reminded them of how much they lost) or something as creative as that he was the son of a missing nin from another village that had once harmed many Konoha shinobi.

Her mind was very open-minded and she was smart but she would not find out, it was an S-Rank secret after all and he was content to have her look out for him and keep him from becoming a typical Jinchuuriki.

So the Sandaime decided to take a look at the long request the girl had sent, he indulged his curiosity and read it. Soon his expression changed to one of deep conflict, she was pointing out how insufficient Naruto's diet was for a child with such large reserves, one that was corrupted with a strange energy she could sense that was near over-powering his chakra to keep him alive and that she had done what she could to give him some extra nutrition in his diet but in the end, there was little she could do.

The village was starving their Jinchuuriki.

The Sandaime had more than a few words to say to many civillians in the market, and he adapted the Orphan fund to add to all orphans diets, especially for Naruto.

He would never have noticed if not for that one Genin girl.

* * *

Whilst Naruto was at the academy, Rae made sure to visit the Ichiraku Ramen stand to explain what needed to be added to the ramen to make his diet much better. Add more vegetables, less salt and use boiled bones as a stock base rather than the powdered stuff that you brought from the markets to save money.

Naruto was one of their few customers, and they needed all the help they could get to improve their business without turning Naruto away from lack of money.

"I'll be making him some high calorie lunches to take to the academy, so that would help a little. You'll go bust as a business if you let this continue." Rae had explained to Tenuchi who had surprisingly listened to her, instead of telling her that she was an ignorant child like most would have.

Rae decided that she liked the cook very much.

* * *

Naruto had noticed the slight change in attitude Rae had over time, she was both less anxious but more sad and he couldn't figure out why. He slurped his ramen, filled with yucky vegetables but too hungry to care about the taste, and he thought about it for a little while. However, two Genin boys walking past the stand gave him the information he wanted.

"Rae-san is so strange, first insisting on being a ninja and then being all buddy-buddy with the little Uzamaki-freak," one of the boys said with a mocking sneer.

"She's a girl Takashi, girls are pretty stupid and don't belong in the ninja ranks, she'll see it soon enough." The taller of the two replied.

"Well we are taking the Chuunin exams soon, we need her even if she is a stupid girl just to try!" The first boy protested.

"True, we'll talk to sensei about it after the exams..." the rest was lost to Naruto as they walked past.

Were they Rae-chan's team-mates?! Naruto scowled at his ramen as he lost his appetite. Did they think she was stupid just because she is a girl?! Rae-chan's awesome and his friend! Sure she's a bit weird and blushes at pretty girls the same way boys do in his class, but that didn't mean she shouldn't be a ninja!

Naruto nodded to himself, decided, and he paid his tab and marched his way down the road, eager to tell his friend what he heard and how they were wrong... then he realized something very important.

He had no idea where Rae lived.


End file.
